The fact that Tottenham and Arsenal go into next Saturday’s north London derby
sitting in seventh and eighth position in the Premier League makes the game
even more significant than if they were second and third and vying for the
title.

Living on the edge: Andre Villas-Boas position is vulnerable at SpursPhoto: ACTION IMAGES

Both clubs might well be desperate to win silverware this season, but at this stage of the campaign, with results going badly for both, the winners at the Emirates on Saturday will regard the result as just as valuable as a trophy.

It has become a pivotal fixture for both teams and both managers, with Andre Villas-Boas and Arsène Wenger knowing that a defeat will have the whole world talking about the crisis engulfing their club.

Villas-Boas and Wenger might not think that they are on the brink of a crisis, but everybody outside of Spurs and Arsenal will see it that way if one team loses the game.

That is why this weekend’s encounter carries more significance than usual and why it has become so important for both clubs because neither can allow their terrible recent form to extend to a defeat against their greatest rivals.

Arsenal have now won just once in four games, against bottom club Queens Park Rangers, and they have conceded 12 goals in their last four games.

So despite all the rumours of Wenger targeting a £30 million forward in January, with Napoli’s Edinson Cavani being mentioned, the real problems in their defence are there for all to see.

But Tottenham Hotspur also have big issues to rectify and that is why they have endured a similarly bad run, culminating in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Manchester City.

Spurs may have won at Manchester United earlier this season, but their form has evaporated since that victory with three defeats in their last four games putting more pressure on Villas-Boas.

The problem with Spurs is that they are having major problems when it comes to closing games out and coming away with a positive result. It was there against City on Sunday, with the home side scoring twice in the second half to win the game.

To compound matters for Villas-Boas, his big decision to leave out an in-form Jermain Defoe, after his midweek hat-trick in the Europa League against Maribor, backfired.

The jury still seems to be out on Villas-Boas, so the last thing he needs is a bad result against Arsenal at the weekend.

Spurs started the season slowly, then picked up and won at Old Trafford, but they have also lost games they should have won.

They have a strong squad, though, and because of the options they have defensively, you would argue that they are better off than Arsenal.

But while Arsenal have plenty of problems of their own, the success that Wenger has brought to the club over the years still counts for something and that currency has bought the manager time and some level of patience.

Villas-Boas doesn’t have that luxury, though, because he has only been at Spurs for five minutes and he arrived having lost his job at Chelsea last season.

That is why victory against Arsenal is so important for him and why it is an absolutely massive game.

The success that Wenger has enjoyed at Arsenal has made it more difficult for their supporters to accept the current state of play, however.When they were winning trophies, on the way to becoming the ‘Invincibles’ and reaching a Champions League final, the prospect of losing to Spurs wouldn’t really have been a big issue for Arsenal.

When I played for Liverpool and we were winning league titles and European Cups, the odd bad result against Everton did not hurt as long as it did when the blue side became our closest rivals in the mid-Eighties.

Arsenal are in the same position now. Their success has dried up and they are now battling it out with Spurs for fourth place and a Champions League spot, so the tension has increased.

And the danger for both is that, rather than have that battle to themselves, they risk missing out altogether because Everton look capable of challenging them for fourth place. If neither Spurs nor Arsenal qualifies for the Champions League, the ramifications for Villas-Boas and Wenger could be significant.

It is hard to see Tottenham being satisfied finishing outside the top four having finishing fourth under Harry Redknapp last season.